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Shimano BR-R785 road hydraulic disc brakes: under the hoods

The angled bolt on the inside of the lever handles the adjustment of free stroke before the braking kicks in – that s another feature that will be familiar to mountain bike brake users

(Warren Rossiter/Future Publishing)

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Remove the cover and pull back the hood cover and you can adjust both the reach and the engagement point of the brake (how far the lever travel before the braking force starts to ramp up to full power)

(Warren Rossiter/Future Publishing)

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The brakes have a dedicated bleed kit with all the tools for the job

(Warren Rossiter/Future Publishing)

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Bleeding starts with the removal of the STI units bleed screw

(Warren Rossiter/Future Publishing)

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The fluid overspill cap will be familiar to mountain bike brake owners

(Warren Rossiter/Future Publishing)

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Marcus, Shimano’s mechanic, prefers to remove the calliper from the frame to inject the fluid. He says it just makes things easier

(Warren Rossiter/Future Publishing)

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The hose lines also have these handy splitters - great for switching Euro style brake setups to our preferred UK ‘moto’ style

(Warren Rossiter/Future Publishing)

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The calliper is based on current Shimano XT and the performance is tuned for road use by the shifter unit

(Warren Rossiter/Future Publishing)

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IceTech Freeza rotors have the unique cooling fins carried over from mountain bikes

(Warren Rossiter/Future Publishing)

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Our test bikes ran 160mm rotors but Shimano are confident that the full production 140mm will be enough

We'll have plenty more to add to our Shimano BR-R785 review in the coming days but for now, check out some GoPro footage below of our tester Warren Rossiter getting to grips with the brakes on a 17km descent in Sicily. This was the first of three days of testing and the brakes were still wearing in, hence quite noisy. By day 3, the noise had all but disappeared.

Shimano r785 hydraulic disc brakes impressions

Video: Shimano BR-R785 hydraulic brake testing in Italy

E-tube technology

The new pairing of Di2 STI levers and hydraulic disc brakes can be added to 11-speed Dura-Ace Di2 and 10- and 11-speed Ultegra Di2, providing you have a disc compatible frame.

The levers are based on E-tube technology, Shimano's control software. Think of it like a CAN bus communicator in a car, the tech that tells you when you have a light out, or need to top up the fluids.

The E-tube project is accessed via the new charger or the diagnostic kit (available seperately). This allows you to add in new units to the system, such as sprinter shifters, TT shifters, or change the standard Di2 STIs for hydraulics. It also means you can configure the shift buttons to however you want, and alter the shift speed and multishift settings (the whole block or, say, 2 or 3 gears at a time). The E-tube software is web-based and accessed via the E-tube project website.

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Approaching two decades of testing bikes, Warren can be found on a daily basis riding and exploring the road and off roads of Wiltshire's Salisbury Plain in the UK. That's when he's not travelling the world to test the latest kit, components and bikes.